SOA-C02 Question 324
Single answerYour organization is running a web application on an Amazon EC2 instance that is experiencing performance issues during peak traffic hours. Upon reviewing Amazon CloudWatch metrics, you observe high CPU utilization (consistently above 90%) and increased response times from the application. Which of the following actions would be the most appropriate to address the performance issues while ensuring cost efficiency?
- A
Resize the instance to a larger instance type within the same family.
- B
Enable Auto Scaling to launch additional instances during peak traffic hours.
- C
Switch to a Spot Instance for cost optimization.
- D
Enable enhanced networking on the current instance.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
High CPU utilization and increased response times indicate that the current instance is under-provisioned for the workload. Resizing the instance to a larger type within the same family is a straightforward solution to provide additional compute capacity. This is a cost-efficient approach compared to launching multiple smaller instances with Auto Scaling, as the application likely benefits from vertical scaling rather than horizontal scaling.
- A. Correct.
This is the correct answer because resizing the instance to a larger instance type within the same family can address the high CPU utilization issue by offering more compute resources, such as additional vCPUs and RAM, while maintaining cost efficiency compared to provisioning multiple smaller instances.
- B. Incorrect.
While enabling Auto Scaling can help handle traffic spikes by adding more instances, it is not the most cost-effective solution in this scenario as the issue seems specific to the compute resources of the single instance running the application. Auto Scaling is more appropriate for horizontally scalable applications.
- C. Incorrect.
Switching to a Spot Instance is not an appropriate solution here because Spot Instances are subject to interruptions and are not ideal for applications where consistent performance and availability are critical.
- D. Incorrect.
Enabling enhanced networking can improve network performance but does not directly address high CPU utilization. The issue in this scenario is primarily related to compute resource limits, not networking.